By: Isabella Corvelli In math this year we used a program called Connected Mathematics 2. This program, Connected Mathematics 2 is made up of eight different sections, or you can say books. So far this year we have worked in six out of the eight different math books, such as Prime Time, Bits and Pieces 1, Bits and Pieces 2, Shapes and Designs, Covering and Surrounding, and right now we are in the process on finishing How Likely Is It? We developed many different strategies throughout the books that we have worked in. We talk about the strategies in class and also we work on the strategies in our math reflections that we do after each investigation. In each book we get ACE questions for homework. ACE stands for Applications, Connections, and Extensions. Also in the back of each book there is a glossary and an index. We also have a homework sheet to write down our homework. At the end of the unit our teachers grade our notebook and if the homework sheet isn’t complete then we get points off. So it’s always good to write down your homework. All of the units start with three questions that will refer to the unit. The three questions tell us what the book is going to be like. Here are three questions from the book How Likely Is It?… You are on a game show. The host is holding a bucket with red, yellow, and blue blocks. You cannot see the bocks. Guess a color and then choose a bock from the bucket. A player who correctly predicts the color of the block wins $500. After each selection, the block is returned to the bucked. What are your chances of winning the game? You have a scratch-off prize card with five spots. Each spot covers the name of a prize. Two of the prizes match. You scratch off only two spots. If the prize under both spots match, you win. How likely is it that you will win? Some people can curl their tongues into a “U” shape. Other people can’t. What are the chances that a person can curl her or his tongue? After that we look at the mathematical highlights which tell us a little bit about the unit, and the important things about the unit. Each unit provides a set of math highlights that previews the important things in the book. The math highlights help us focus and allows us to track or progress. It is a good place for each child’s parent to look at so they can understand what their child is learning or doing in class. One of the things that we have to do is math packets, that are due every Friday. Math packets have about 4 -5 pages of mathematical problems. For example one of the pages might be addition and one might be subtraction. Or one of the pages might be division and the other might be multiplication. Also for the multiplication pages, some of them have 5 digit multiplied by 5 digit. Our math teachers (Mrs. Mannon and Mrs. Wester) say that the math packets are supposed to help us improve our math skills. One of my favorite pages of the math packet is the short addition, short multiplication, or short division. My favorite book that we did this year was Shapes and Designs. I liked Shapes and Designs because we got to learn all about the shapes and even some new shapes like decagons, hendecagons, etc. We also got to learn about the shape’s interior and exterior angles. We learned about angles such as right angles, obtuse angles, and acute angles. We got to see which shapes tile and which do not, and why. Did you know that a bee’s comb is made up of hexagons? Well now you know! For one of the investigations we learned how to build triangles and quadrilaterals. This book’s three questions were… What property of a good hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honey comb? Why do some shapes occur more often than other shapes in art, rugs, and quilt designs? Why are braces on tower, roofs and bridges in the shape of triangles and not rectangles or pentagons? I also liked this because we got to make all sorts of different tiles with different shapes to see if they would all fit together. Shapes and Designs was a really fun book! I liked it a lot! I had really smart teachers that knew the answer to every question. I enjoyed all of the books this year. This was the first year that I was in the highest math class. During the other years I was in the second to highest math class. This year was the first year that I really enjoyed math.
In math this year we used a program called Connected Mathematics 2.
This program, Connected Mathematics 2 is made up of eight different sections, or you can say books. So far this year we have worked in six out of the eight different math books, such as Prime Time, Bits and Pieces 1, Bits and Pieces 2, Shapes and Designs, Covering and Surrounding, and right now we are in the process on finishing How Likely Is It? We developed many different strategies throughout the books that we have worked in. We talk about the strategies in class and also we work on the strategies in our math reflections that we do after each investigation. In each book we get ACE questions for homework. ACE stands for Applications, Connections, and Extensions. Also in the back of each book there is a glossary and an index.
We also have a homework sheet to write down our homework. At the end of the unit our teachers grade our notebook and if the homework sheet isn’t complete then we get points off. So it’s always good to write down your homework.
All of the units start with three questions that will refer to the unit. The three questions tell us what the book is going to be like. Here are three questions from the book How Likely Is It?…
You are on a game show. The host is holding a bucket with red, yellow, and blue blocks. You cannot see the bocks. Guess a color and then choose a bock from the bucket. A player who correctly predicts the color of the block wins $500. After each selection, the block is returned to the bucked. What are your chances of winning the game?
You have a scratch-off prize card with five spots. Each spot covers the name of a prize. Two of the prizes match. You scratch off only two spots. If the prize under both spots match, you win. How likely is it that you will win?
Some people can curl their tongues into a “U” shape. Other people can’t. What are the chances that a person can curl her or his tongue?
After that we look at the mathematical highlights which tell us a little bit about the unit, and the important things about the unit.
Each unit provides a set of math highlights that previews the important things in the book. The math highlights help us focus and allows us to track or progress. It is a good place for each child’s parent to look at so they can understand what their child is learning or doing in class.
One of the things that we have to do is math packets, that are due every Friday. Math packets have about 4 -5 pages of mathematical problems. For example one of the pages might be addition and one might be subtraction. Or one of the pages might be division and the other might be multiplication. Also for the multiplication pages, some of them have 5 digit multiplied by 5 digit. Our math teachers (Mrs. Mannon and Mrs. Wester) say that the math packets are supposed to help us improve our math skills. One of my favorite pages of the math packet is the short addition, short multiplication, or short division.
My favorite book that we did this year was Shapes and Designs. I liked Shapes and Designs because we got to learn all about the shapes and even some new shapes like decagons, hendecagons, etc.
We also got to learn about the shape’s interior and exterior angles. We learned about angles such as right angles, obtuse angles, and acute angles. We got to see which shapes tile and which do not, and why. Did you know that a bee’s comb is made up of hexagons? Well now you know!
For one of the investigations we learned how to build triangles and quadrilaterals.
This book’s three questions were…
What property of a good hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honey comb?
Why do some shapes occur more often than other shapes in art, rugs, and quilt designs?
Why are braces on tower, roofs and bridges in the shape of triangles and not rectangles or pentagons?
I also liked this because we got to make all sorts of different tiles with different shapes to see if they would all fit together. Shapes and Designs was a really fun book! I liked it a lot!
I had really smart teachers that knew the answer to every question. I enjoyed all of the books this year. This was the first year that I was in the highest math class. During the other years I was in the second to highest math class. This year was the first year that I really enjoyed math.